The Beauty and the Geek
by ChannelClosed
Summary: Inuyasha is the school's resident nerd. After his appearance changes over one long summer, he returns to school to find things aren't quite as he remembers. Will popularity get to his head?


Inuyasha pushed the food around on his tray listlessly, one hand supporting his chin as he sat alone at the table. Although he pretended not to pay attention, he was ease-dropping on his only friend's conversation from across the cafeteria. It wasn't easy to follow every word, as the room was filled with loud and excited teenagers. It sounded as though Miroku's friends were giving him a hard time—again—for hanging out with Inuyasha, while Miroku tried to diplomatically plead his case.

"I don't know how you can…He's…total loser…. makes you look bad…"

"He's not that bad!"

Inuyasha snorted to himself, deciding he had heard enough. It wasn't anything new; Miroku's friends always took every opportunity to tear into Inuyasha. He was infamously unpopular, the school's resident geek. And although Miroku was quite popular and a jock to boot, he never bothered with the labels others put on them.

"But he's ugly!" groaned Miroku's other friend, loudly. Despite himself, Inuyasha felt a stab of humiliation. His appearance was a sore point that others picked on mercilessly. He was a hanyou, but his eyes were bad, so he needed glasses. His fangs grew in crookedly, so he was stuck with huge metal braces. His long silver hair was often neglected, so it frayed easily and became frizzy. His skin was prone to breakouts. He was quite a disappointment according to his brother, Sesshoumaru, who had no qualms about discussing how Inuyasha shamed their rich and attractive bloodline.

It wasn't like he cared though, Inuyasha reminded himself. He had no intention for changing for the stuck-up cows who attended this so-called school. Fuck 'em!

He stood up suddenly; ready to escape the too-loud and too-smelly cafeteria, when a stern hand clasped his shoulder. He turned to face the scolding face of Ms. Kaede, the school's principal. "I hope you don't intend to leave your tray on the table," she said lowly. He glared at her behind his thick-rimmed glasses.

"No." He muttered. Kaede gave him a sharp look. "No, ma'am," he amended.

When she smiled, the creases around her wrinkled mouth deepened. "Good lad," she patted his shoulder and was off.

Grumbling to himself, Inuyasha snatched the tray and turned around furiously. He was completely unprepared to run full-bodily into the person who had seemingly materialized behind him, and consequently dumped his entire tray of uneaten slop all over her.

The whole cafeteria watched with bated breath as Kagome Higurashi took a step back, her mouth open in shock. Inuyasha was horrified. Beside Kagome, her boyfriend Kouga, took only second to recover.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, dog breath!?" He growled menacingly, stepping towards Inuyasha with a raised fist. When Inuyasha didn't respond, Kouga grabbed the front of his uniform and jerked him. "Huh!?"

"Kouga, stop!" Kagome interrupted, regaining her senses. She tried to pull Kouga's arm. "It was an accident."

By this point, Miroku had pushed his way through the gathering crowd and appeared by Inuyasha's side. Kouga glared for a moment longer before he released Inuyasha by pushing him back. Inuyasha stumbled back a step, but quickly found his footing.

"Apologize to Kagome, or I'll kick your ass." Kouga snarled.

"Kouga-kun, please…" Kagome mumbled, still trying to pull him back. She was promptly ignored.

"Keh! I ain't scared of ya, you pathetic wolf!" Inuyasha snapped. He hated Kouga, hated everybody who was gathering around, hated the kid that shouted '_kick his ass, Kouga!_' and he was so embarrassed. Being under so much scrutiny really made him very uncomfortable. He knew, realistically, he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight against Kouga, a full-youkai. But he would rather take a beating like a man than look like a complete coward in front of so many people who already thought so little of him.

"Why you…!" Kouga seethed. He was stopped from advancing on the hanyou by Kagome. Tired of being ignored, she put herself between them.

"Enough! Kouga! It was an accident," she looked up at Inuyasha, offering him a friendly smile, "right Inuyasha?"

Bouncing from horrified, to angry, to completely flustered in ten seconds, Inuyasha had no reply for Kagome. He made himself nod once, but all he could think was '_She knows my name?_'

"There you have it," Miroku announced, also stepping between Inuyasha and Kouga. "Inuyasha's sorry; Kagome-chan's forgiven him. All is well." He began to lead Inuyasha away.

While walking away from the scene, Inuyasha heard Kagome's friend Sango ask, "Are you okay, Kagome-chan? Let's go get you cleaned up…" He felt like a jackass.

"You really need to watch that temper of yours, Inuyasha." Miroku scolded as they walked down the hall. "Kouga wouldn't think twice about coming through with that promise."

"I'm not scared!" Inuyasha growled. Miroku gave him a disbelieving look.

"Well, I'm not…" he mumbled, chastised, his dog ears drooping. "Anyway, I didn't do nothin' wrong!"

"Well, it's true that it was an accident, but you really should have apologized to Kagome-chan." Miroku sighed, as they came to a stop in front of Inuyasha's locker. Grumpily, the hanyou reefed the locker door open. He grabbed his history text book.

"I was about to…" Inuyasha admitted belatedly. "But then that damn wolf started mouthing off, and I couldn't just do what he said!"

Miroku sighed again. "No, couldn't do that… Let's get to class, shall we?"

* * *

Inuyasha felt Kouga's sharp eyes drilling holes into his back for the rest of the day. From the snickering coming from Kouga's friends, he knew they were planning something awful for him. He tried his best to ignore them, but his senses were prickling.

Inuyasha cursed his quick-fire temper for the billionth time. He wasn't much of a fighter, and he knew he was considerably weak for a hanyou. Despite his father's urgings, he never went out for any sports and avoided the gym at all costs. Too many jocks and preppy bitches hung out around those areas, and those were exactly the type of people who seemed to hate his very being. Just breathing pissed them off.

Still, he would rather take a beating than give them anything else to mock him for. And thanks to his temper and tongue, he was no stranger to getting his ass kicked.

Finally the last bell rang. Inuyasha jumped up from his desk, messily grabbing his books. He made it all the way out the front doors without incident, and even spotted Miroku up ahead. _Perfect_, Inuyasha smirked to himself. Miroku's reputation of a popular, nice-guy was often enough to keep the bullies away from Inuyasha while they were together. Maybe he really would make it home, without any interruption from Kouga.

When he spotted who Miroku was talking to, the same guys he was talking to at lunch, Inuyasha felt his stomach drop. '_So much for that_,' he thought. It took only a moment to steel his resolve, and then he continued walking through the school grounds to the parking lot.

Miroku wasn't surprised when Inuyasha didn't stop to talk to him, as he never spoke to Miroku when Miroku was with his other friends. It was a fact that saddened him. He wished others could see the side of Inuyasha that he did, but Inuyasha was determined to prove that he didn't need anybody. It was hell even getting the hanyou to open up to him.

Miroku's friend, Tachi, noticed Miroku's violet eyes drift as Inuyasha passed. "Hey! You're still coming, right?"

Miroku snapped to attention. "Yeah, just give me a moment..." he excused himself.

Inuyasha was fumbling for the keys to his truck in his book bag by the time Miroku caught up to him. He looked up as his friend approached.

"Hey…" Miroku began, feeling guilty. "Tachi invited me—"

"Yeah, I figured." Inuyasha interrupted. "Why're you telling me for? I don't care. Just go hang with your friends." He continued to rummage through his bag.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow…" Miroku mumbled.

"Damn it! Where the fuck're my keys?!" Inuyasha grumbled, ignoring him.

Still feeling guilty, Miroku walked back to his awaiting friends. They were piling into a black car idling in the middle of the lane. Cars were lining up behind them, honking. As they peeled out of the lot, Miroku's friend rolled down his window and shouted, "See ya half-breed!" before tossing a crushed cola can at Inuyasha.

Miroku elbowed him sharply. "Dude!" he exclaimed. The rest of the car just broke into laughter.

* * *

"Stupid bastard," Inuyasha growled to himself, now kneeling on the ground .He roughly pulled all the books from his bag. "Where the fuck…"

"Looking for these?" he heard a voice from across the lot. When Inuyasha looked up, he was surprised to notice that all of the cars had cleared out from the lot. There was only Inuyasha's truck, parked, and then Kouga's slick silver car, idling in the middle. Surrounding the car was Kouga and his friends, all smiling wolfishly at the crouching hanyou. Around Kouga's pointer finger were Inuyasha's keys.

"Give them back, bastard." Inuyasha growled. He stood up, hating himself when his legs shook as he did so. Damn it, he wasn't scared…. He wasn't!

"Come and get 'em, dog breath!"

* * *

'_Still picking me up?!_' Miroku sighed, leaning his head against a wooden beam and stared down at his cell phone, nervously waiting for Inuyasha's response. He was worried Inuyasha would feel jilted and ignore Miroku, as he often did.

He was surprised when his phone vibrated. '_ya. on my way_.'

It was only five more minutes before Inuyasha's truck pulled up. Miroku pulled away from the porch with a relieved smile. The smile quickly faded when he opened the door and saw the state of his friend. His bottom lip looked as though it had been split, though it was healing, and he had a large bruise on his right temple.

Inuyasha school uniform was creased and wrinkled, his long hair was cab of the truck smelled musky. It was obvious Inuyasha had slept in his truck. Again.

"What happened?!" Miroku exclaimed, alarmed. Inuyasha just gave him a withering look, before putting the truck in drive and pulling away from the curb. "You're right. Stupid question."

"If my mom asks, I slept at your place last night." Inuyasha mumbled, glancing into his rear-view mirror. He tongued the healing cut on his lip experimentally. It stung slightly in response.

"Again, Inuyasha?" Miroku sighed, feeling terrible. '_This wouldn't have happened if I had stayed with him…_'

Noticing the look on his friends face, Inuyasha smirked. "Don't look so depressed, it's nothin'!"

"Still," Miroku mumbled. "You still should have gone home. Or called me."

"You know I can't go home, lookin' all beat up. My mom would have a fit." Miroku continued to frown out the window. "Seriously, man, don't worry about it."

Sighing, Miroku opened his book bag and began rooting through it. When he found what he was looking for, he sneaked a sly glance at Inuyasha. He held up the bottle of cologne. When Inuyasha noticed what Miroku was holding, he glared.

"Don't even fuckin' think about it."

"But you stink!" Miroku whined. "Just one… maybe two!"

"No way! I can't stand that stuff, make's my nose hurt."

"But the ladies love it!" Miroku insisted.

"That must explain why you don't have a girlfriend," Inuyasha smirked.

"That's it." Miroku announced, spritzing Inuyasha with the cologne.

"Urg! What the fuck!" Inuyasha swerved. Miroku sprayed him again.

"Trust me; you'll thank me in the long run."

Inuyasha glared at the road, using one hand to automatically roll down all of the windows in the truck. He then pulled down the sleeve over his hand and covered his nose, and his smile. "I'm going to be sick." He joked.

Miroku laughed, feeling better.

* * *

Okay, chapter 1 is done! So, this story is pretty much a work-in-progress. I have a general idea of where I'm taking this, but bare with me... Um, thanks for reading! It's been quite some time since I've posted a story...

I am in love with the thought of a nerdy Inuyasha, aren't you? And one that has a driver's license, no doubt...


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